42 laps around the sun... all I know so far.

Happy Birthday to me! 42 laps around the sun; some waaaaayyyy longer than others, and a few of them far too short for sure. But I made it alive and mostly in 1 piece; minus 100lbs in the last 18 months – woohoo! But now that I’m here, is this really it?
"The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42"

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
I’m pretty sure the quote above has become more famous than the novel itself. I mean, how many people have heard the quote but never even read the book? And while geeks around the world have wasted years of their lives trying to put some deep, symbolic, mathematical meaning to the number, the author himself states that there is, in fact, no meaning to it at all.
“It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one.
Binary representations, base thirteen, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense.
I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought ‘42 will do.’
I typed it out. End of story.”

From the online discussion group alt.fan.douglas-adams
But, there was one piece of “Geek Wisdom” that resonated with me.
The “meaning of life” question is meaningless since the answer is, and always be, something different for each person. The reason being is that the question is also going to be different for each person. Deep Thought felt that it was a perfectly legitimate answer since, for him, it made sense. For others, it was rubbish. That’s because the Ultimate Question is different for each and every one of them.

When we ask ourselves “what is the meaning of life” we are actually asking how we personally think what we want in life. If you ask ourselves the Ultimate Question and we cannot find what the Ultimate Answer is within ourselves, then you may not know what direction your life is going. If you are able to answer it, then you have already found your purpose in life.

My Geek Wisdom

So, I asked myself, what is the meaning of life… MY life?

I reaffirmed my purpose in life at 36 when I had my daughter. I always knew that I wanted to be a mom and I am not shy to say that, despite my faults, I'm a damn good mother! As long as she keeps me safe, I promise to keep her wild.

At 40, I hit a fork in the road, or maybe it was a brick wall - I can't be certain. A midlife crisis, or a mental breakdown, whatever it was it stopped me in my tracks, made me take pause, step back, accept the help I needed and learn to regain control. It was either that or go off the deep end.

At now, at 42, I may not know the answer to the true meaning of life, but I know this:

  • I need to stop catering to what others want and pay attention to my own needs, putting them first.
  • I no longer sit at tables where I might (will) be the topic when I get up.
  • You don't have to attend every argument you're invited to.
  • Having a soulmate is not always about love, you can find your soulmate in a friendship too.
  • Stay close to people who make you feel like it's OK to be yourself. 
  • When you start seeing your worth, you'll find it harder to stay around people who don't.  

Pink wrote "All I Know So Far" as an advice-filled love letter for her daughter, and I cannot tell you how many times my own LO and I have belted this out in the car together at the top of our lungs. So, cheers to 42, and all that I know so far!

 

Must Read

For Math Fans: A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Number 42 - Scientific American (geek theories and explanations for 42)

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